*Every New Tampa school had the same grade for 2018-19 as it did the previous school year, with the exception of Hunter’s Green Elementary, which improved to a “B” grade after four straight years of “C” grades.
*New Tampa had six schools earn “A” grades, two that earned B grades and three earned C grades.
*Chiles Elementary was the only New Tampa school to score higher than 80 in English Language Arts (ELA), Math and Science Achievement.
*Pride Elementary earned the best score among our schools for ELA Achievement (86), while Chiles was tops in Math (85) and Science (85).
*Chiles is now 17-for-17 in earning an A grade from the state.
*However, Benito Middle School, Pride and Clark elementaries all have the longest current streak of “A” grades — 18 straight years, dating back to 2002.
* Freedom and Wharton high schools were both “C” schools for the fourth straight year.
* Did you know that from 2008-10, every elementary and middle school in New Tampa earned A grades?
Recent Wharton graduate Rebecca Larose poses with preschool students Maryam and Cohen during Halloween festivities at Wharton’s Wee Wildcats program last fall.
While the halls at Wharton High are mostly filled with teenagers, there’s a brightly colored preschool-sized playground adjacent to the front parking lot that may seem a bit out of place on a high school campus.
It’s actually a symbol of a unique learning opportunity that benefits both high school and preschool students.
A handful of preschoolers arrive on campus four mornings a week for a program called “Wee Wildcats,” named after Wharton’s mascot.
The program has been a part of the school for two decades, bringing together high school students who want to learn about early childhood education with preschoolers whose parents appreciate the low cost of the program and the attention their children receive.
“It’s been phenomenal,” says Marissa Harris, whose four-year-old son, Cohen, was in the program last year. This fall, Cohen will return to Wee Wildcats, and he’ll be joined by his younger sister, Charleigh, who is three.
Wee Wildcats is offered Tuesday through Friday, from 9:30 a.m.-11:55 a.m., for children who turn three by September 1 of the year they enroll, until they go to kindergarten. Parents pay just $40 per month per child.
Marissa says she was nervous at first to leave Cohen in the care of high school students, but she decided to give it a try because it’s so affordable.
And, she says, Wee Wildcats quickly exceeded her expectations.
“Cohen is so comfortable and he’s learned so much,” she says, which is why she’s opting to bring him back for another year. In addition to his ABCs and 123s, Marissa says Cohen has learned how to spell his name and put letters together to form words in an environment he loves.
The Right Teacher
Wee Wildcats is led by Wharton’s early childhood education teacher, Erin Heilman, who doubles as the preschool director and has credentials to teach students in both age groups. The preschool only accepts 15 students at any one time to meet proper ratios for the one adult in the room — although they are considering hiring a second adult to make room for more students — but several high school students are the ones who actually lead the preschoolers through their day, which closely follows Florida’s VPK (voluntary pre-kindergarten) curriculum.
Wharton students in the first year of the program, typically freshmen, do bookwork in the classroom during times when there are no preschoolers in attendance. As they progress through their sophomore, junior and senior years, they begin to alternate bookwork with planning lessons and teaching the preschoolers in their care. The students design the lessons for the preschoolers, then lead them throughout the day.
Meanwhile, the bookwork they complete prepares them to earn a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential from the State of Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) once they turn 18. Some students may immediately begin using this license to teach in a preschool. For others, it’s a stepping stone to future goals.
Alexis Fernandez is a senior at Wharton who says she wants to teach elementary school after college. She is entering her fourth year of the Early Childhood Education program at Wharton.
She says her freshman year, before she was allowed to work with the kids, was “amazing,” as she learned how to “deal with kids.”
“It’s very difficult teaching small kids,” Alexis says. “They get distracted easily, and get upset a lot, too. I understand that, but without the program, I don’t think I could handle it. Really, it’s all about patience and learning how to be strict, but also calm and understanding.”
Alexis says the kids prefer the arts & crafts and hands-on activities. Heilman says she will continue to add science-based activities. For example, the preschoolers observed the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly last spring, and they will plant a garden this fall.
Heilman has been leading the program less than a year. She took it over late last fall, while it was undergoing a transition. She had been hired at Wharton as a technology teacher in the business department, thanks in part to the MBA (Master of Business Administration) degree that she holds from the University of Phoenix, Tampa campus.
She had previously taught middle school history and then third grade at the Turner Bartels K-8 school and was excited to move to Wharton, where her son is a junior.
One day, when a newly-hired teacher didn’t show up for work, administrators called on Heilman.
“I didn’t even know we had a preschool at Wharton, but I was the only one on campus with an early childhood certification,” Erin explains. “So, I ran down there and greeted the parents.”
She says several days later, she was offered the position.
Heilman says it feels like her dream job, and brings together many of her skills and passions. She asks rhetorically, “How lucky am I that I get (to teach) these incredible high schools students, as well as preschool?”
For example, Heilman’s business background helps her coach high school students who might want to open their own preschool one day. Not only do they need to know how to teach preschool-aged children, Heilman also can help them create a business plan.
She’s also elevating the program to be much more selective, where it was previously open to any interested student.
For the 2019-20 school year, only 45 Wharton students were chosen for the program, out of 130 who applied.
“I want only the best of the best working with these preschoolers,” Heilman says. “They have to be highly qualified with a high GPA, no tardies, no suspensions, and two teacher recommendations. Ultimately, I always think, ‘Would I, as a parent, leave my child with that student?’”
For the students who were chosen to be in the program this upcoming year, the answer is a resounding “yes!”
“I think it’s a great program for the community,” Heilman says. “I’m so proud of these high school kids. If I had known about Wee Wildcats when my son was that age, I would have put him in it.”
It may have lacked the sizzle of a regular season match-up, but the two New Tampa rivals squared off for two quarters of football looking to answer some questions and end the spring on a high note. In the end, it was the Wildcats pulling out a 10-0 victory at Hillsborough High School.
WHARTON
Biggest Question
The Wildcats had to answer the typical questions surrounding any team’s spring, but chances are, there were more of them to answer than in years past, following an abysmal 2018 season in which Wharton went 1-9, the program’s worst record since the school’s first two years of existence (1997 and 1998). The ‘Cats will have someone new under center, someone new in the backfield and some new pieces on defense, all questions head coach David Mitchell hoped to settle, or at least get closer to settling.
The Answer?
Well, there weren’t really many answers at the spring jamboree against Freedom, as the Wildcats outscored the Patriots 10-0 in two quarters of football.
Daveon Crouch (4) outjumps teammate Michael Reddin Jr. (20) to make the interception.
At quarterback, 6-foot, 2-inch rising junior Emery Floyd got the reps but only attempted one pass and it was out of bounds. However, the Wildcats have yet to test out Tampa Bay Tech transfer Pete Stuart, who saw limited action in three games as a junior. Because he transferred in January, he was ineligible to play in the spring game. Mitchell hopes to settle the quarterback position over the summer during 7-on-7 work. In the backfield, the coach has already committed to rising sophomore Johnnie Cason and rising senior Benyon Williams. Cason picked up 19 yards on four carries, including a three-yard touchdown, while Williams ran five times for 31 yards, against Freedom.
On defense, linebacker Michael Zellem seemed to have a strong command of the play calls and a nose for the football, and made a big stop on fourth down to force a Freedom turnover on downs.
Defensive end Cole Essek, a rising junior, had a very strong game, creating quarterback pressure and making solo tackles, even ending the jamboree with a sack-forced fumble. Mitchell would like to see the 6-7, 170-pound Essek put on some weight this summer but feels confident both Essek and Zellem will be major factors this season.
Stars of the Game
Essek was a force to be reckoned with on defense. He even flips around and plays offensive tackle next to a couple of behemoths in Xavian Bivens (6-2, 350) and Dorian Lewis (6-1, 325)….Kicker Zach Godbold nailed a 29-yard field goal with ease. Also a soccer player (and state javelin champion), Godbold should be a reliable point-maker when Wharton’s drives stall….Receiver/defensive back Daveon Crouch had a big punt return and an interception….Edwouens Marcelin blocked a Freedom punt and had a sack on the night.
FREEDOM
Biggest Question
The Patriots had a slightly better season than the Wildcats a year ago, and a 10-6 victory over Wharton in September 2018 during the regular season was part of their 4-6 record. But, with the loss of 25 seniors, Freedom hoped that a number of their new players would be able to step up into roles vacated by graduation.
“We wanted to see how some of the younger kids handle adversity,” said Freedom head coach Henry Scurry, who is heading into his second season. “We wanted to see who responded in various situations. All jobs are available at this point; we’re trying to see who can do the jobs consistently.”
Freedom’s Edwin Greene goes low to catch a pass for the Patriots, who fell 10-0 to its New Tampa rival Wharton in the spring jamboree. (Photos by Andy Warrener).
The Answer?
“The jury is still out,” Scurry said. “There’s a lot of room for improvement. There’s a lot of things we have to clear up, like the quarterback-center exchange, and we weren’t able to establish a rhythm.”
The Patriots looked a little lost in the 10-0 loss to Wharton, unable to control any aspect of the game. They established a school record last year for fewest points scored with 83, and don’t have anyone returning who scored a touchdown last year.
Scurry did say that his defense, however, which allowed only 143 points (third-lowest in school history) is pretty much where he’d like it to be, although he is looking for someone to step up at linebacker. The coach says he felt good about his defensive line play, but linebacker remains one of the Patriots’ biggest question marks.
Stars of the Game
One of the team’s few returners, rising senior Dontae Johnson, got some looks at quarterback in the spring game, as well as some reps at defensive back. Rising sophomore lineman Tawfia Thomas is another returner. Scurry also mentioned rising senior Edwin Greene as having a fairly good spring. Rising junior Joel Pierrelus ran for 19 yards on two carries as the “wildcat” quarterback in the spring game, and Scurry said that Pierrelus could end up playing a number of different positions.
When the half-penny school sales tax referendum passed in Hillsborough County last year, the promise was that aged roofs and floors and playgrounds would be repaired, athletic tracks would be repaved and classrooms and fire evacuation systems being upgraded, just to name just a few much-needed enhancements.
But, what got Wharton High’s Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) president Kristie Scism most excited was much cooler than all those things.
“The air conditioning,” Scism says. “It may not be the best thing, but it was the one thing I was most excited about.”
Hillsborough County Public Schools announced last week that teams of workers have begun moving into the 21 schools that will receive an overhaul or replacement of their existing AC systems.
While every school in New Tampa except for Hunter’s Green and Tampa Palms elementaries is scheduled to get upgraded AC in years 1-5 of the school tax referendum, only Wharton High, Benito Middle School and Clark Elementary are among the 21 schools having the work done this summer.
Over the next 10 years, funds from the half-penny sales tax are expected to overhaul or replace the A/C systems at 203 schools, or about 20 each summer.
“It’s pretty miserable when the A/C breaks,” Scism said, adding that it has been an all-too common occurrence at Wharton. “It gets to be like a sauna in some rooms. It’s very hard (for students) to concentrate in those conditions.”
Intermittent air conditioning at times has also been a complaint of parents and teachers at Benito and Clark for years.
Victoria (Tori) Bell is the third member of her family to earn class valedictorian honors at Wharton High.
For Wharton High’s 2019 Valedictorian, Victoria “Tori” Bell, being at the very top of her class runs in the family.
Both of Tori’s older brothers, Earl and Jared, were also Wharton valedictorians. Earl is now serving in the military, and Jared is earning his undergraduate degree in Applied Physiology and Kinesiology at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
“It was always assumed that I would follow in their footsteps, but I never felt forced into it,” says Tori, 17, who earned a 9.01 GPA at Wharton by completing several Advanced Placement STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) courses while simultaneously earning an Associate of Arts (A.A.) degree from Hillsborough Community College.
Tori, a National Merit Scholar and member of the Mu Alpha Theta Mathematics Honor Society and the Science National Honor Society, received fully-financed offers from Florida Gulf Coast University and the University of South Florida, but had her heart set on attending UF.
“My brothers both went there, and it’s always the school I wanted to go to,” said Tori, who was awarded the Benacquisto and Presidential Scholarship from UF, which will more than cover her full tuition and living expenses.
Tori says her recipe for success was, “consistency and determination with measured doses of goofing off,” which she did by playing video games, going to the gym, and enjoying lots of movies and TV shows by herself and with friends.
“I absolutely love stories,” said Tori, whose favorites include the Ender’s Game series, Marvel comic book movies, and the British drama hit “Killing Eve.”
Tori also is an avid reader who has whiled away many an afternoon at the bookstore, reading Gillian Flynn, Emily Danforth and Agatha Christie.
Her parents, Ed and Diana Bell, teach math and language arts at Wharton; however, her mother says that Tori is very self-sufficient and never asked either of them for help with homework.
Tori plans to major in Accounting, although she says that career choice is not set in stone, and plans to minor in English at UF. She’s also looking forward to living in Gainesville, closer to her brother Jared.
“My parents and family have been absolutely amazing, and I know I wouldn’t be here without them,” she said.
Salutatorian Also Headed To UF
Wharton’s salutatorian Ashley Joseph, who came in just behind Victoria with an 8.41 GPA, was, like the valedictorian, determined for success from the beginning.
“My parents taught me the importance of education from an early age,” says Ashley, 18, who took additional online and dual enrollment courses as a freshman and sophomore specifically to meet high school graduation requirements as soon as possible. “From there, I followed my passions and learned continuously.”
Ashley volunteers weekly in the emergency room at AdventHealth Tampa, interacting with patients and helping at the front desk, and works as a tutor at Kumon Math and Reading Center in New Tampa.
“My goal is to become a doctor,” says Ashley, who also will attend UF. “The ability to help others is extremely meaningful and rewarding (to me).”
Wharton High’s 2019 graduation ceremony will be held at the Florida State Fairgrounds on U.S. 301 in Tampa on Thursday, May 30, at 12:30 p.m.
